I'm a mega-chump for any documentary
pertaining to eccentrics, especially if they relate to sexual
perversion or sadism. A few I hold dear include "Hated: GG
Allin & the Murder Junkies," "Crumb," and "Graphic
Sexual Horror." However, as outrageously degenerate and
sleazy as the people depicted in these docu-shock flicks are,
the holy grail, as I see it, lies within the life and times of
Mr. Robert Flanagan.

"Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist"
is one of the most down-n-dirty documentaries on a single
individual you will ever see. Not only does it provide all the
good "shocking" antics the guy ultimately obsessed over, it is
truly some heart-wrenching shit, for the fact that a man is
slowly dying of a terminal illness, right before your very eyes
for 90 minutes.

The film begins with close-up jump cuts of Flanagan's face as he
takes his masochistic abuse. We see him drinking from a baby
bottle (filled with, what I can only imagine is piss), cringing
in pain, being spoon fed shit (?) with his nostrils pinched,
getting a pie in the face, being choked, ball gagged, poured
upon with unknown fluids, etc. All these scenes showcased with
zany, cartoonish music playing. We then cut to him, shirtless,
with oxygen tubes in his nose, reciting his pending obituary.
He explains that he is the longest known survivor or the
genetic lung disease, Cystic Fibrosis. The illness grants a
short life expectancy which Flanagan clearly dodged well into
his 40s.

Next, we see the first example of Flanagan's style of
performance art on stage in Los Angeles in 1994. He is lying
under a lamp and a camera is focused on his oxygen-fed face as
he explains CF and his love for bodily mutilation. Much of his
stage acts obviously consisted of poems and humorous songs about
his declining health, which he recites for an audience. At this
early point in the film, you get the idea that Flanagan has a
real light-hearted approach to his rapidly worsening disease.

Later segments in the film show Bob's 1962 appearance on The
Steve Allen Show where a ten year-old Flanagan ironically
exclaims he in not interested in becoming an artist when he
grows up. Bob shows some of his display art, namely the
"Visible Man" which is an anatomical mini representation of the
human body that he rigged with tubes to make shit, jizz and
phlegm spurt out of it. If I had a mantel in my home, I would
happily promulgate this spectacular art piece! No joke. Bob
also shows footage of himself relaying his "amazing" sexual
escapades at S&M meetings in the late 80s, short S&M films he
made with his partner, Sheree, and his museum art exhibits.

Throughout the film, the focus shifts from Flanagan's sexual
fetishes, his artistic way of expressing these fetishes, and his
deteriorating health. In almost every interview, Flanagan is
seen coughing violently and hacking up mucus into a Dixie cup.
His attitude toward his ailment stays fairly incontrovertible
and sprightly, aside from one home video captured by Sheree
which shows a blubbering Bob fearing his eminent death. As the
film reaches its end, Bob drives to the hospital where he is
consumed by an agonizing flair-up and struggles to breathe for
an unknown amount of time before he dies...

"Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist"
was directed by Kirby Dick, who not only has the funniest name
in the world, but is also one seriously dedicated documentary
filmmaker. "Sick" was shot over a period of, possibly,
four years. As it seems, Dick and Flanagan vowed to push on
with the film up until Bob's death. THAT they did. It's an
extremely honest and non-exploitive flick that shows every
single side of the guy, including all the kinked out shit he was
into -- such as the infamous video of Bob nailing his goddamn
cock to board, pulling out the nail and bleeding on the camera
lens. Needless to say, Bob Flanagan RULED!